The permanent secretary of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Mr Olusade Adesola has expressed disappointment at the repeated vandalism and theft of expensive gully inlets, manhole covers, and other flood containment infrastructure on Abuja city roads.
Adesola who spoke after a flood assessment tour of parts of the city over the weekend, said expensive gully inlet and manhole covers which were recently replaced by the FCTA had been vandalised and stolen, leading to suboptimal performance of the drainage systems and consequent flooding on some city roads.
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He expressed shock that even the gully inlets and manhole covers made of ductile materials that were of little or no second-hand value have also been targeted by the vandals, leaving a very worrisome situation in the FCT.
The permanent secretary said the incessant vandalism and theft of these expensive public infrastructure and their accessories, have become untenable in the FCT, in the wake of the dwindling resources of government and other competing interests.
He, therefore, called for the collaborative support of FCT residents by reporting any unusual or suspicious observations to the relevant security agencies for prompt action to forestall the ugly situation.
“Earlier in the week, we undertook a visit to the flood sites of Lokogoma and Trademore, amongst others. The destruction caused by the flood in those areas was touching. But we knew that equally within the city, there are pockets of flash floods and flooding in some areas due to suboptimal performance of our drainages and we also knew that efforts were made to address these challenges.
“So, today what we did, as part of efforts to rid the city of flooding, was to go round and visit some of the locations where we have had some flooding during this rainy season and to also see the works that we are doing to address them.
“So, overall, we have assessed that to rid the city of flooding is a collective responsibility. The manhole covers that were placed on this particular road, last year, have been removed. They were not removed by ghosts. They were removed by people and this is Federal Capital City where we have all the law enforcement agencies present,” he said.
The permanent secretary while speaking on the cost implication of installing gully inlet covers and replacing stolen infrastructure in the FCT, said, “For instance, this afternoon, before embarking on this trip, we did a cursory review of what these costs were.”
Adesola also cautioned members of the public who dump refuse into flood drains to desist from doing so. He said, “To members of the public engaging in that, they need to know that these gully inlets are not dumpsites.”